


Mystery Society

by DerKnochenbrecher



Category: Kingyo Koshoten | Kingyo Used Books, Matantei Loki Ragnarok | Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok, Pet Shop of Horrors, Reikan Shouhou Kabushikigaisha | Psychic Business Corporation, Shiranui Kitanroku, xxxHoLic
Genre: Gen, blatant disregard for canon timelines, mindless self indulgence - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 08:20:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5368199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DerKnochenbrecher/pseuds/DerKnochenbrecher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Watanuki goes to a social gathering in Yuuko's name, meets a variety of increasingly odd people, and nothing of much consequence happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mystery Society

**Author's Note:**

> I have no real excuse for this, I'm sorry. I just thought it would be a neat idea to play with. I'm sure I probably could have come up with some other series to be involved, but I just went with ones I was familiar with and enjoyed. Please forgive some necessary stretches of the imagination.
> 
> Also, please count this as a shameless plug to read Shiranui Kitanroku. It's one of my favourites, available online, and very short.

The timer dinged, and Watanuki turned it off before opening the fridge and taking out the tray of chocolates. It wasn’t anywhere near Valentine’s Day, but still Yuuko had insisted that he make strawberry cream chocolates – in flower shapes, ‘if he could.’ Well of course he could, so here he was, having made the chocolates to her specifications.

 

“Looks perfect!” he said, beaming as he looked them over. He wondered if Yuuko would let him keep a couple to bring to Himawari at school the next day – and Doumeki too he guessed, because Doumeki would complain if he didn’t get any.

 

“It _does_ look good,” Yuuko said, leaning in unexpectedly from the door frame. She gave one of those gluttonous smile of hers, a red-painted nail touching her bottom lip.

 

“So what do you want with it?” Watanuki asked. “Beer? Wine? Bourbon?”

 

“While I’d _love it_ if you went and got me some beer, these aren’t actually for me,” she said.

 

For a vague moment, Watanuki was almost excited – maybe he _could_ give them to Himawari! But then he realised that this wasn’t actually a good sign. Because when Yuuko sprung something on him, it usually ended with him trying to run away from demons.

 

“So you… didn’t have me make these for you?”

 

“Nope!” she said. “You’re taking them to a friend’s place tonight.”

 

“… Great. And what is it in exchange for? Them reading my fortune? Giving me bad romantic advice?”

 

Yuko shook her head, her earrings clinking.

 

“Not at all. It’s a _social_ gathering – I can’t go, so I’m sending you instead.”

 

“Alone. Among your _friends_.” The way Watanuki said the word clearly indicated that he didn’t believe she had any such relationships.

 

“No, not alone. I was going to send Mokona with you.” She was almost pouting.

 

That wasn’t really much better. But instead, he swallowed his complaints.

 

“So where am I going?”

 

“A bar, down in Shibuya.”

 

“You expect me to get into a bar?”

 

“The Master will be waiting for you, so yes. You’ll have no trouble getting in.”

 

“I still don’t want to.”

 

“Tough. Maru! Moro!” Yuuko called down the hallway. “Come help Watanuki wrap these chocolates up!”

 

The two girls came rushing in, chanting “Help Watanuki!”

 

Watanuki sighed, but let them take over. “So who exactly is it I’m going to meet?”

 

There was a glint in Yuuko’s red eyes, the sort that promised mischief and someone ending up dead. It probably wouldn’t be him, though. Probably.

 

“Just some friends of mine. They’re all in the same line of business, more or less.”

 

Watanuki paused. “Granting wishes?”

 

“Some of them, yes. But mostly they’re the sort who deal with things most people don’t understand. You could even call us a Mystery Society!”

 

Ah. Demons, then. Well, as long as none of them attracted anything weird. Maybe one of them could even exorcise them, like Doumeki could. Still, not very promising.

 

Watanuki took the chocolates – wrapped up in a white box tied closed with a pink ribbon that was only slightly crooked – from Maru and Moro’s offering hands.

 

“So when am I taking these over?”

 

Yuuko glanced out the window. It was getting close to sunset, so surely she didn’t mean for him to leave now. Strange things came out at night, and Watanuki would rather avoid those.

 

“If you leave now, you should get there right on time!”

 

As if he’d ever had a choice. He sighed heavily.

 

Yuuko handed him a piece of stationary, cream with lilac butterflies because of course it was. Yuuko’s directions were written across it in black spindly scrawl, so fancy Watanuki had to squint to understand them.

 

“Come on, Watanuki! If you don’t get there as the sun starts to set, you won’t be able to get there! And then what would I say to my friends then?”

 

“Well, you _could_ invite them over here. Or go to _your own damn party_.” Watanuki was certain he had only thought the words, but apparently he’d spoken them out loud.

 

“But they’re having a marathon of _Bishoujo Kamen Poitrine_ tonight and I wanted to watch it with Maru and Moro!”

 

Watanuki was pretty sure that she could have found a better use of her evening than watching _tokasatsu_ reruns. Like responding to her own invites.

 

“Mokona wanted to watch it too!” Mokona said, bouncing in. “But then Mokona decided to go with Watanuki instead! Aren’t you pleased?”

 

“Ecstatic. Can you please get off my shoulder now?”

 

“Nope! Mokona is staying here and going with you!”

 

Yuuko handed him a bag for the chocolates and Mokona. “They’re not that scary, I promise. You might actually like talking to some of them.”

 

Watanuki didn’t have high hopes for the likelihood of that.

 

In any case, he was in no position to argue. And that was how he found himself wandering Shibuya at dusk, trying to find a single bar whose name he wasn’t even sure of. Yuuko’s scribbles were shockingly illegible today, and he got the feeling that she’d broken into the alcohol stash before he’d gotten to work. Even then, though, it felt like she’d done it mostly to mess with him.

 

He looked around, trying to find anything of note, but nothing caught his eye. He sighed and kept walking. Yuuko had said something about having to find the place before dusk, before she shoved him into the portal that took him here. If he’d had a cursed magical object for every time she was too vague for his liking, he could have filled his own warehouse with them. It was just great. And since they were out in public, he couldn’t ask Mokona’s help, either. Whispering to a bag would probably have just made him look even crazier than he already was.

 

Watanuki sighed, and when he looked up, his eyes caught on a young man walking towards him. Well, young – he was probably in his thirties, with somewhat messy black hair and a cheerful, if tired face. He wore a hideously yellow shirt under a nice if outdated jacket. He looked like someone’s favourite science teacher.

 

The man smiled when caught Watanuki’s eye, and walked towards him. Watanuki didn’t get a _bad_ vibe from him, so it was probably alright.

 

“Hello!” the man said. “Looking for something?”

 

“Er, yes,” Watanuki replied, slightly taken aback. “I’m looking for, uh, this place.” He showed the man the piece of paper, quite aware that he was looking for a bar while wearing his gakuran.

 

“Oh! You know Ichihara Yuuko, then?”

 

Watanuki blinked, then realised that this guy was probably one of the ones Yuuko had sent him to meet.

 

“Erm, yes…”

 

“Ah, you must be her assistant! She mentioned you’d be coming here instead of her tonight. It’s nice to meet you – my name’s Tokiwa Kanenari.”

 

What a weird name. “My name’s Watanuki Kimihiro.” Okay, maybe he wasn’t one to talk. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

 

“I can take you there,” Tokiwa said, referring to the bar. “The Master there is a good friend of mine, so it’s a convenient place for us to meet.”

 

“Right,” Watanuki said. “Are you like Yuuko, then?”

 

“Do you mean a wish-granter or a fortune teller?”

 

Watanuki didn’t know himself, but Tokiwa seemed to take no mind.

 

“To be honest I don’t have much skill in either department. I’m more of an onmyouji – people call me in to exorcise ghosts whenever they’re having problems.”

 

Watanuki felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. “You don’t charge people their soul in exchange for that, do you?”

 

Tokiwa laughed. “Why would I do that? I charge money – I need to pay my rent, you know. And my cat keeps demanding more expensive food. I love him, but sometimes…” He gave a weary sigh, like this cat really was a problem. “Being a substitute teacher doesn’t pay very much, when you get down to it.”

 

It would probably be nice, having a job not connected to the occult. Too bad Watanuki’s hands were tied when it came to _that_ , for the foreseeable future at least. Tokiwa, for his part, seemed to have descended into the depths of some sort of personal hell, and only lifted his head when he almost passed a sign, advertising a bar. _The_ bar, Watanuki realised.

 

He hesitated before reaching for the door.

 

“Don’t worry,” Tokiwa said. “I know they look scary – and some of them are – but they’re generally pretty good people. I mean, I might not ask them to watch over human children, but I’d probably ask most of them to cat-sit for me.”

 

Watanuki wasn’t sure that was a legitimate measure of someone’s trustworthiness. Though come to think, he wasn’t sure he fully trusted this Tokiwa guy. An onmyouji he may be, but a name like Tokiwa Kanenari _had_ to be fake. Ah, but – come to think, why _had_ Watanuki given him his full name?

 

Yuuko had said doing so could be dangerous, and she was probably right. But he was also sure that she wouldn’t send him into danger she didn’t think he could manage. He’d just have to trust her, as counterintuitive as that seemed. It was just a shame that his birthdate was right there in his name.

 

It was small place, though the golden light made it look rather cozy, tucked in beneath a staircase that led to the building’s second floor, which probably housed a variety of businesses. When Tokiwa pushed open the door, a little bell chimed. To Watanuki, it sounded like the sort of bell that could ward off spirits. He wondered if it actually could.

 

The air smelled like coffee and a bit like alcohol, tinged with incense. A different kind that whatever it was that Yuuko burned, though. This one smelled more like peonies and osmanthus. He followed Tokiwa in as he walked towards the bar at the back. Two people were already sitting there, chatting to the bespectacled man behind the bar.

 

One of the men, with black hair cut in a bob and a Chinese dress with embroidery that could rival some of Yuuko’s outfits, was sitting on his stool with his legs delicately crossed, a cup of tea in his hands. He looked up when he saw Tokiwa, and Watanuki realised that one of his eyes was purple and the other was gold. It was disconcerting. Also, there was something weird and pink sitting on his head, and looked like if he touched it, it would feel similar to Mokona. Even though Watanuki wasn’t getting a bad vibe from it either, he still wanted to avoid eye contact with it.

 

“Hey, Count!” Tokiwa said. “I hope Fehmut isn’t being too much a terror for you.”

 

The man Tokiwa had called Count sighed. “Well, it’s not that His Majesty is being a _terror_ , necessarily – unlike some Americans I know, he’s actually _housetrained_ – but he does seem to miss you when you’re not around. And complains about it.”

 

“Ah, well… I couldn’t take him on that particular mission – it was an angry water spirit, and he wouldn’t have enjoyed it, even if I had been allowed to keep pets in the teacher’s dorm. I’ll pick him up tonight, though.”

 

Watanuki decided to stay quiet. He wasn’t sure their conversation was supposed to make sense, though he was gleaning that it had something to do with the cat Tokiwa had mentioned owning earlier.

 

Watanuki glanced at the other person there. It was a boy who didn’t look much older than elementary age, with reddish hair and a piercing green gaze that sought out Watanuki’s eyes and seemed to pin him down. A feeling washed over Watanuki – kind of like when he was with the zashiki-warashi, only more intense, and hotter. Then the kid looked away, picking up his tea cup in one hand and taking a sip. The large bow at his neck and the oversized boots might have made him look a bit ridiculous, but for whatever reason Watanuki was beginning to suspect that this one was the sketchiest of the bunch. And that included the gelatinous pink thing.

 

“Eeeeh?” The Count made a strange noise, bringing Watanuki back to the real world. He was startled to find the Count looking at him, a sparkle in his mismatched eyes. “So you’re Yuuko-san’s assistant? I’ve heard a lot about you!”

 

“He’s heard about your _cooking_ , he means,” the kid said.

 

“Yuuko-san said she’d send you with something for us?” the Count asked, apparently not hearing the insult.

 

“Eh? Oh, yes…” Watanuki rummaged in the bag, pulling out the box of chocolates. He set it down in front of the Count. “I hope they’re satisfactory. Yuuko-san didn’t tell me how many people I was making it for, or even that I wasn’t making them for her…” Though he knew she’d had the girls sneak a couple from the cooling tray to eat while watching her _tokusatsu._

 

“I’m sure they’ll be _wonderful_ ,” the Count said, pulling open the bow.

 

Tokiwa looked around. “Is Shiranui not here yet?”

 

“Ah, Shiranui-san said he may be late,” the Master said. “He said to start without him.”

 

Tokiwa sighed. “Of course he would be the one being late. Are we expecting anyone else?”

 

“Not to my knowledge.”

 

Watanuki was pretty sure that translated out to _don’t blame me if anyone unexpected shows up._ And given the circumstances, uninvited guests seemed plenty possible.

 

The Count was dolling out the chocolates – or rather he was supposed to be. He seemed to being trying to eat them at the same time. “These are delicious! Loki-kun, would you like some?”

 

“… Sure,” the kid said, and the Count pilled three onto his saucer. He looked mildly annoyed at that, and Watanuki found himself leaning in.

 

“Ah – I’m sorry, do you not like sweets?”

 

Loki tilted his head, frowning slightly. “It’s not that I _don’t_ like them…”

 

The Count grinned. “It’s more that Loki-kun has his own personal chef, and he doesn’t want to have to tell him he ate something better, made by someone else. Where _is_ Yamino-kun? I was hoping to finally meet him.”

 

“I left him at home, where you can’t get your claws on him.”

 

“Surely you jest! Even if he would be a great addition to my collection, I wouldn’t dare rip a child from his beloved parent.” The Count lifted his hand to cover his mouth as he laughed, and Watanuki noted that he did indeed have claws. Long enough to rival Yuuko’s, in fact.

 

Loki seemed to ignore this, deciding to take a bite of Watanuki’s chocolates instead. Watanuki waited on a verdict.

 

“It’s good,” Loki said finally. He turned and smiled at Watanuki, who felt some of his trepidation vanish. “Thanks for bringing them.”

 

“Yeah… right…” Watanuki gave a wavering smile in return.

 

In Watanuki’s bag, Mokona gave a very loud yawn and bounced up from inside the bag.

 

“Watanuki!” Mokona said. “Do I smell food?”

 

To the credit of pretty much everyone in the room, they barely registered a reaction to a black manju bun popping up out of a bag.

 

“I’ll have cake ready in a moment,” the Master said.

 

“Cake!” Mokona cried. “With tea and a shot of rum in it!”

 

“Please don’t drink this early in the night,” Watanuki said, knowing full well that Yuuko had probably downed an entire pack of beer by now.

 

“Aww…” But before Mokona could complain, or before Watanuki could do much of anything, the Count reached over and plucked Mokona off of the edge of the bag.

 

“So this must be the famous Mokona Modoki!”

 

“Eheheheh Mokona is famous!”

 

“Of course!” the Count went on. “It’s not every day you meet a creature able to cross between dimensions. Especially one so cute.”

 

Mokona giggled again, apparently enjoying being picked up by those creepy-looking claws. The Count seemed pretty happy with a black manju bun in his lap, a pink jellybean rabbit on his head, and a pile of macarons offered by the master on a small plate next to his tea cup. There was also a plate with a half-eaten piece of Schwartzwald cake.

 

Loki sighed. “Maybe you should take a seat, Watanuki- _kun._ I don’t think D is going to return that creature for a while.”

 

“Ah, yes…” Since Tokiwa sat down next to the Count, the nearest empty seat was the one next to Loki. It would be rude to refuse, so Watanuki took up the seat – only somewhat reluctantly.

 

The Master served him a tiny plate with a piece of cake on it.

 

“Ah, I don’t think I can accept –“

 

“Just consider it Yuuko’s tab. Also, D brought it, so you know it must good.”

 

Watanuki looked over to the Count, who currently seemed to be in some kind of seventh heaven with Mokona and the pink thing. He looked rather childish, so maybe he would be a good judge of the quality of sweets. Watanuki _supposed_ it wouldn’t be too bad to accept. He didn’t get a bad or creepy vibe from any of these people, just weird, and he was _pretty sure_ this wasn’t some bizarre underworld. He _was_ sure that it was some sort of weird dimension, but Syaoran and the others ate things in weird dimensions all the time and nothing bad had befallen them from it, so he accepted the cake.

 

As soon as he touched the plate, the bell on the door rang. So Watanuki, fully realising that even now he wouldn’t get to eat his cake without _some_ kind of trial first, turned around to see who it was.

 

The man was rather tall and broad-shouldered, or at least his heavy black jacket made it seem so. He held a matching hat in one hand and a tattered suitcase in the other. He was also dripping wet for some reason, like he had been walking through a heavy rainfall only a few moments earlier. His black hair was rather too long, and fell in waves to cover half his face. Watanuki was fairly sure he didn’t want to see what was under that, and decided against trying to guess.

 

The Master stepped out from behind the bar, offering to collect that man’s coat and hat and probably dry them so that his nicely tiled floors didn’t get water damage. The man let him take them, although he didn’t brush the hair out from his face.

 

“My apologies for being late,” he said as he walked into the light of the bar. It still didn’t help the creepy factor.

 

“No problem,” Tokiwa said. “It’s not like we were doing anything useful.”

 

The man gave a sort-of half shrug, as though it didn’t matter to him either way. Then he turned to Watanuki, which was more or less what Watanuki had been trying to avoid.

 

“I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said, offering a hand. He smiled, too, and that made him seem more human. “I’m Shiranui.”

 

Watanuki was absolutely sure _that_ was a fake name, especially since he didn’t offer a personal name. But since the rest already knew him by his real name, it wasn’t like he had much choice. “… Watanuki Kimihiro. Yuuko-san sends her regards.” By which he met, she had sent him and some chocolates. He was pretty sure that counted.

 

Shiranui gave a strange smile, and Watanuki couldn’t help but wonder what Yuuko had said about him. He was pretty sure they’d gotten the wrong impression, no matter what.

 

“Kimihiro-kun brought us chocolates, too,” the Count said, far too chipper.

 

“Hm. Well, thank you Watanuki-san.” Rather than joining the rest of them at the main bar, Shiranui elected to take a seat at one of the tables, where the Master served him a plate piled with treats. Rather less than the Count’s or even Loki’s plates, Watanuki noticed.

 

The seating arrangement meant that Watanuki would have had to strain to see him, which would have been rude, but then so would have ignoring him. It was a dilemma.

 

“So you didn’t end up bringing Kyousuke-kun?” Tokiwa asked. “I was looking forward to meeting him.”

 

“No. I thought it better I leave Kyousuke at home for a while yet. He’s taking time to adjust,” Shiranui replied. Watanuki had no idea what was going on, but felt very sorry for this Kyousuke kid indeed.

 

“A relative of yours?” the Count asked. So at least Watanuki wasn’t the only one out of the loop, not that he really wanted to be in it.

 

“Yes. From a branch family. But there was recently a tragedy in his birth village so he was entrusted to the main family, as his closest relatives. I’ve taken up teaching him, as a hobby. He’s an effective student.”

 

Yeah, Watanuki _was_ sorry for this kid.

 

The conversation wandered for a while, and Watanuki got the chance to eat his cake and drink his tea. That was especially welcome – looking at Shiranui made _him_ feel cold.

 

His eyes drifted back to the Count, who was running a hand down Mokona’s head (body?) as he talked.

 

“Ah, so what’s with the animals?” Watanuki asked Loki, trying to keep his voice low.

 

Loki shrugged. “D runs a pet shop,” he said. Watanuki supposed that explained it. “Although really, it’s more of a death trap.” That explained it less.

 

“How rude!” the Count said, overhearing. “We only sell hopes and dreams! It’s not our fault if humans can’t follow basic instructions.”

 

Loki gave him a blank look over the rim of his teacup.

 

The Count gave Watanuki a smile, which was about as bad as any of Yuuko’s when it came to mysterious aura.

 

“Loki-kun is a detective, so he tends to frown upon such things. Fortunately, he is not the most tenacious detective I have ever met, so his presence is not a disturbance. Also, he knows how to bathe.”

 

Watanuki got the feeling that the Count was moments away from ranting about someone who wasn’t in the room, and he felt sorry for whoever _that_ was, too.

 

“Oh,” Loki said. “That’s correct. We haven’t been properly introduced.” He turned to Watanuki, offering his hand. “I run the Enjaku Detective Agency. My name is Loki Laufeysson.”

 

Watanuki took the offered hand once again. He got the feeling that, despite the fact that it was clearly _not_ Japanese, the name was as close to real as he’d get out of the kid. There was something unwelcome but not entirely unfriendly in his fire-green eyes. Watanuki wondered when he would be allowed to go home.

 

The Master replenished both of their teacups, and Watanuki decided to keep his head low and stay out of the conversation as little as possible. Unfortunately, though, that proved to be a bit harder than expected. The subject turned rather quickly to the supernatural, and before long their own interactions with it. Well, given who all was here, it was only a matter of time before it did.

 

It turned out that Shiranui was a folklorist, and even though that title conjured up images of monkey paws and unsolved murders for Watanuki, he seemed more intent on noting down what everyone said. They all went around, telling stories of creatures they had encountered or spirits they had saved or magical artifacts they had found. It was like a round of hyakumonogatari, but without boundaries or really any of the items Yuuko had insisted on – or the corpse. And maybe it was because these were all stories whose tellers had managed to survive, but they didn’t summon anything. Or maybe it was because something was keeping the demons at bay. He didn’t know which.

 

Shiranui’s stories were the strangest, and usually involved people dying. Loki’s tended to start with people dying in horrific ways and the reveal of involvement of things Watanuki couldn’t even pronounce. The Count’s stories mostly got side-tracked into him talking about how gorgeous the creatures he met were. It was hard to tell from his descriptions if these creatures were human or animal or both or neither. Some of them didn’t sound that bad, though. Tokiwa’s stories were often the nicest – sad, a lot of the time, but generally involved Tokiwa rescuing people in the nick of time and very few people dying. They sounded pretty truthful too, though not like Tokiwa was bragging.

 

After a few moments of nagging from the Count, and Shiranui’s comment that he’d like to hear them too, Watanuki gave in and told them some of the things that had happened to him. He told them about the zashikiwarashi and the amewarashi, the moonlight birds he had once delivered, and about the twins who had warped themselves with their own words, since Shiranui had told them his own story about twins. He even explained what had happened last time he had been a part of a hyakumonogatari ceremony. Mokona would, on occasion, interrupt him to add another side of the story or, more often, comment about how scary or tasty something was. Since by that time Watanuki’s mouth had begun to hurt from talking, he didn’t say anything about it.

 

By the time it seemed like they were finishing up, it was almost midnight. It had been a long few hours, so Watanuki was pretty sure they wouldn’t mind if he left first. He did have school in the morning, after all. He put a napping Mokona, satiated on cake and adoring pets, into the bag so as to not arouse suspicion.

 

The air outside was clear and drove away the fog of the cloying perfume that Watanuki hadn’t realised had filled his mind. He looked around and realised that he had forgotten which way to go. He dug out the little map Yuuko had drawn him. Then he stared at it, realising that she had rewritten the note remotely.

 

 _Watanuki-kuuuun!!_ , it read, like she’d be rather tipsy when she wrote it. _I wanna read manga. Go find me all 17 volumes of the_ Kaze to Ki no Uta _manga before you come back! Don’t make that face –_ he had absolutely been making a face, because where was he going to get a specific manga at this hour? – _you can find it here! I’ll be waiting. XOXO Yuuko._

 

There was a little butterfly with heart wings drawn next to her name. So yes, she was absolutely drunk. At least the map she included seemed to be a bit more coherent than the one that had led him to the bar. She really wanted that manga, apparently.

 

Whatever. Watanuki just wanted to go home. Being around so many strange people was exhausting.

 

“But Watanuki is strange too!” Mokona said. Watanuki glanced down at the bag, but the pork bun was still sleeping, and only mumbled something incoherent.

 

After a few minutes of walking, Watanuki realised that he wasn’t in Shibuya anymore. He was in some rural area, with small stores and houses not too far off. He decided not to question it, since that would probably let him get to bed earlier. Though knowing Yuuko, she’d want a snack with her manga, and more alcohol to go with it. He tried to think of something simple to make – if there was bread, he could leave her with some finger sandwiches, perhaps.

 

There was a light up ahead that attracted his attention, illuminating a sign that read _Kingyo Used Books._ Beneath the lettering there was an ink image of a fish. What a strange name for a bookstore, he thought. But it looked like it was open, even if he couldn’t see anyone inside.

 

He opened the door, which gave a much less auspicious jangle. There was a man asleep at the desk, using an issue of Kodansha’s Weekly Young as a pillow, who jerked awake when he Watanuki walked in.

 

The young man yawned. “What time is it..? Ah, Natsuki-chan is going to kill me!” He looked up blearily to Watanuki. “Sorry. We should be closed now, but I guess I feel asleep reading manga. The owner’s out though, so I can probably help you before she gets back.”

 

“Are you one of the workers?”

 

The man nodded. “My name’s Shiba. I can find you pretty much any manga you want.”

 

“Good, because I’ll probably forced into indentured labour for another five years if I don’t bring this back.”

 

Shiba laughed. “I understand. So what are you looking for?”

 

“Ah, something called… _Kaze to Ki no Uta_? Do you have it? It sounds old…” Glancing around at the shelves up here, they seemed to be mostly knew and popular – things that would sell.

 

Shiba smiled vaguely as he thought that over. “We do! It’s down in the Dungeon, though. Would you mind accompanying me down there?”

 

Without even thinking it over, Watanuki nodded. It was just a used manga bookstore. It wasn’t like there was anything weird about, compared to some other places. Its owner wasn’t part of that blasted Mystery Society, after all.


End file.
